Salmonella. Have YOU caught it from your reptiles?

I've been seeing a lot of news articles and mentions lately of salmanella and the danger of exotic animals. We all know the risk is there. But I want to know how many have actually experienced salmonella poisoning from their reptiles?


I've only caught salmonella once, long before I ever had herps. Now that I do have reptiles, I've never caught it.

I currently have two snakes, three lizards, a bird, and a frog. The bird is 7 years old, and all the rest of the animals are between 1 and 3 years old. My boyfriend has been keeping reptiles and birds his whole life and has never caught it.

Now I won't say we are perfect with our care in preventing salmonella. We know the risk but...well, we get lazy. I've kissed my snake before, I've forgotten to wash my hands before eating after handling my reptiles. Most of the time we are good about it, but honestly we treat cleanliness with them and our hands like we do our dogs and cats..Sometimes we'll forget, unless we've been cleaning cages or something. We've been lucky in avoiding salmonella for sure I suppose. But how lucky?

I'm curious to know--the number of animals, how many years you've kept reptiles, if you ever caught salmonella from them, and how clean you are when it comes to preventing salmonella.

I know this is an extremely active forum, so I know a lot of people will be able to respond. :) I want to see some big numbers and percentages.


To be honest with all the bad press lately, we will be for sure being more careful about avoiding salmonella. We've just been a little bit lazy when it comes to our own health I suppose! Now we'll be better about it for sure. :)

Never had it. I it like 27 -28 years keeping reptiles and as a kid dealt a lot with turtles.

I've never caught it. I've been kepping reptiles for 4 your years but catching them for years before that. I've been keeping birds for a couple of years now. Not once have i caught it.

You know what I wonder? If I ever DID catch salmonella...would I even know it came from one of the reptiles? I'd more likely assume it came from the chicken I'd prepared for dinner or some other source that is far more risky than our scaly pets.

Good question! I don't know. I guess you would assume because maybe you caught it the day after a massive cleaning day?

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Originally Posted by JLC

You know what I wonder? If I ever DID catch salmonella...would I even know it came from one of the reptiles? I'd more likely assume it came from the chicken I'd prepared for dinner or some other source that is far more risky than our scaly pets.

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I agree, ive had my snake for 5 years and haven't gotten it. If i were to get it I would suspect my mom's cooking before my snake lol :D

Turtles under 4" were banned to have as pets, (unless for scientific research blah blah lol) because of the risk of salmonella. I've had tons of them for several years and have never gotten it yet. I still have several turtles and snakes right now and dont plan on getting it! :P

Under 4" is apparently the size turtle we like to put in our mouths. Over 4" has no appeal apparently, maybe because of the development of claws and that beak.

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Originally Posted by aldebono

Under 4" is apparently the size turtle we like to put in our mouths. Over 4" has no appeal apparently, maybe because of the development of claws and that beak.

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Its actually because they're afraid kids will put them in their mouths :P

Just don't tell them that they can "Nom" of the side of the shell :colbert:

I haven't really been too careful about salmonella.

Ever have to siphon the turtle tank and get the water started the old fashion way? Sometimes the water gets in your mouth :(

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Originally Posted by aldebono

Ever have to siphon the turtle tank and get the water started the old fashion way? Sometimes the water gets in your mouth :(

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lol this happens to me sometimes when i change my goldfish's water :cool:

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Originally Posted by aldebono

Just don't tell them that they can "Nom" of the side of the shell :colbert:

I haven't really been too careful about salmonella.

Ever have to siphon the turtle tank and get the water started the old fashion way? Sometimes the water gets in your mouth :(

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Nooo, I'd never put my mouth on the siphon!

My siphon has a pump on it so I just press it a few times and the water comes out :P

The risk is a lot lower than the reports lead people to believe, however, that does not mean they aren't there. I take very strict precautions, maybe laughably strict to some people, but I grew up in a medical family, so I have heard the worst case scenarios all my life, so they are bound to leave an impression. My mom's first words of warning when I got a snake was to be so careful of infection if it ever bit me, because she has seen people have limbs amputated from an infected cat scratch. Yes, extreme, unlikely, worst case scenario, but when you see and hear that stuff first hand, you really don't want to be the poor soul who becomes and unfortunate statistic. I am never without peroxide and anti bacterial ointment, just in case.

My salmonella prevention is constant cleaning. Because my apartment is so small, I bleach my counters daily and I do not wash any dishes by hand, they all go in the dishwasher. I have one blanket on the couch that is a designated snake blanket that she is allowed to crawl on and that I lay under while I hold her when I watch T.V. and such. I do a full tank clean every other week, where absolutely everything is bleached. I also will not get into bed in the pajama's I was wearing when I held my snake, I will always change them, even if it means more laundry.

It's not like I treat my snake like she is radioactive, I love her and let her crawl all over me, on the carpet, I just am careful afterwards. The risk is low, but that is no reason to be careless. Salmonella is an awful thing to catch, makes the flu look like a head cold. If you are a healthy individual, you won't die or anything, but it will suck. No thank you. I'll use some bleach.

I grew up catching lizards and frogs as a child, was raised around herps with my biological father, have kissed many of our ball pythons and dumeril's on the head, and worked at petco for 5 years... with a habit of licking the tips of my fingers to grip paper, or even eating food while also feeding the snakes.... and have never to my knowledge caught salmonella. Either I've been very lucky, or have built up quite the immunity, or both.

Maybe these people that keep catching salmonella are confusing baby tortoises for tiny hamburgers? I can certainly see this as a possibility :p

Salmonella is transmitted via feces and is not airborne. Only an infected animal can transmit it through their feces. An animal that hatched from an egg cannot be born infected with it (conceivable for a mammal?). Due to its prevalence in the world and ease of transmission, nearly all domestic animals have some amount of it living in their intestines. Yes, this means most animals swap the bacteria around by making contact with each other's poop. Everyone poops.

We ingest salmonella all the time as it is exists in our kitchens and fridges (it got there from meat and produce). Freezing does not kill it. In small quantities, our stomach acid kills the bacteria and we see no ill effects. To get infected, you need to have a weakened immune system (child, elderly, or ill) and/or ingest a fair quantity of it.

Now let's lump those sets of information together and do a little risk assessment.

Reptile:
Captive bred, individually cared for, individually housed with other sterile animals and cleaned up after. The sources of contamination (meaning the animal actually becomes a carrier) are your own hands, its food, or its poop having exposure to either of the first 2 things and then re-ingested by the animal or yourself in poop form. To get sick from the actual animal would, again, require you to ingest its poop in a high enough quantity to become ill. You typically clean an individual reptile's cage once a week on average, so your exposure is limited to that small window of time.

Your food:
Meat:
Often bred literally into a pile of excrement made by an adult carrier of the bacteria, housed shoulder to shoulder or literally piled on top of other individuals who are literally guaranteed to be carriers, and cleaned up after only to the minimum degree that is required by the law. If the animal was raised in another country, presumably the laws are varying levels of strictness (in terms of cleanliness required in the farming and butchering). The animals are often butchered in the same facility they were raised in and come into contact with a number of instruments and workers who are exposed to large amounts of waste and who are desensitized to its grossness.
Produce:
The same animals mentioned above poop, and that poop is thrown all over the designer lettuce you have on your cobb salad while it's being propagated as fertilizer. It can become contaminated by this poop or by the poop it encounters on the truck to the market, the farmer who grew it, etc. Presumably this produce is grown in another country and, again, the laws may not even require the farmer to rinse the goods between harvest and transport to your local supermarket. Even to make produce look presentable they would only need to worry about rinsing the outer surface of the fruit/vegetable. We eat produce and meat every day, so your exposure is limited to 3 meals a day or however often you eat.

Assuming you don't clean your animal's cage bare handed, pick its poop up with your fingers, and then eat some chicken nuggets bare handed (like the people who work at the farm), it's pretty clear where more risk lies. You won't get salmonella by picking up your snake. Aquatic turtles are high-risk because they literally swim in their own poop if their cage is dirty. This means that simply by picking up the animal you could be exposed to a large enough amount of the bacteria to get infected.

People blow whistles and write articles about reptiles because it gets attention. People do studies on it because they couldn't think of another grant proposal. The bottom line here is that if you don't pick up poop with your bare hands and then eat with them, you're WAY more likely to get salmonella poisoning from your food.

Wall of text crits. It's super effective...

No, but I've only kept reptiles for less than a year. I think the whole salmonella thing is way exaggerated, because my sister licks them and hasn't contracted it. Also some times I'll forget to wash my hands. I agree that you're much more likely to get it from food than a reptile/bird.

I have a dozen reptiles and never one case in my entire household, friends, or family that have handled any of my pets.

70+ reptiles 10-12 years keeping. Never had it.

I work with 250 reptiles on a daily basis. Never had salmonella. Yes I even pick poop up with my bare hands. I wash after bc I don't like poo in my nails. I guess i would be more concerned if I was eating the poop/ eating with poo on my hands. I'm way way more concerned with the food I buy at the store than my Herps.


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

I do take SOME precautions... like handwashing after handling mice and buying a separate freezer for the rodents. But while I'm very careful about making other people wash their hands after handling my snakes, I often forget to do it myself.

I take measures to never catch any disease from my snakes or anything else for that matter. I always wash my hands after handling/cleaning and I have dedicated tools like tongs, scales scrubbing sponges etc that don't get used for anything but the snakes. I have had a couple mistakes happen, I guess the worst would be the squirt of piss I got directly in my mouth when popping a juvie once, I had no ill effects from it. I take the same measures to not get my snakes sick. Anyone that comes over must use some germ X before handling one of the snakes and my rats only come from reputable breeders.

I have never had it, but if I did I would guess that it was from chicken/eggs. I've had bps for a bit over 3 years and lizards for several years before that.

I caught It from our bp a little while back. Not a bad case, but still did. The truth is I am what my family sees as "overboard" cooking wise. But being a chef I take pride... I will state, you have. Higher chance catching salmonella from RAW chicken or POORLY cooked chicken then you do eggs. And to this... if it still is right, you have a better chance catching salmonella from your reptiles then foods. (As of last year but food born illness cones nd goes with time)

I've had my snakes for almost 5 years and no one in my household has ever had salmonella. I too am more concerned about my food then my herps.

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Originally Posted by Kittycatpenut

No, but I've only kept reptiles for less than a year. I think the whole salmonella thing is way exaggerated, because my sister licks them and hasn't contracted it. Also some times I'll forget to wash my hands. I agree that you're much more likely to get it from food than a reptile/bird.

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May I ask why your sister licks them? Lol

Thanks for all the responses! I hope a lot more people answer as well, it will be interesting to see what the stats are on this site :)

I've kept snakes for 15+ years and never once have I worried about salmonella. I am very cautious with my collection and never intermingle snake time and food time.

Immediately after checking, cleaning, handling, or feeding I use a sanitizer. This is followed by a full wash in the sink. The sanitizer simply prevents "innocent" contamination, e.g., I forgot I handled snake turds, but now I'm going to make dinner.

I also practice caution when it is strictly snake time; snakes will not make contact unless they have been problem-free for a year. No group photos, no back to back handling, nada. I wash between snakes and I wash between species, with boas always being handled last.

I might be crazy, but it has worked well for me.

I dont really know why she licks them, maybe she wants to know what they taste like :rolleye2:

most people dont even know they have had it or not. unless your elderly or an infant it really doesnt affect you much. you get diarrhea, nausea and sometimes vomiting. you could in more sever cases get blood in the stool, head aches and muscle pains (most likely from vomiting and nausea). most people just get diarrhea and nausea.
most people just chaulk it up to the flu or sometimes food poisoning. my stomach is bad anyways so i would never know if i had it unless i went to the doctors office and had a test done. i still doubt that most if any of us have caught it from our herps. low risk really. just something else that the media uses to make people scared and to create news
adam jeffery

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Originally Posted by Kittycatpenut

I dont really know why she licks them, maybe she wants to know what they taste like :rolleye2:

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Touché' lol

I have had salmonella once. I used to work in a petstore, and got a mouthful of water from a turtle tank.....spit it out, rinsed, gargled....everything, and still got it. From what others have said, 'you won't know if you have it'.......I guarantee, YOU WILL......you cannot keep ANYTHING in.....when you drink water, it comes out.....when you eat, it comes out....all within MINUTES. When you burp, it is like 'gas' out of your mouth....it is horrible. I would not wish it on my worst enemy. I spent 2 days in the hospital pumping fluids I got so dehydrated. After that, the owner got a siphon that hooked up to a sink.....

Jason

JTrott that sounds horrible!

should i not let my snakes slither around my bed with me anymore?:confused:

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Originally Posted by JTrott

I have had salmonella once. I used to work in a petstore, and got a mouthful of water from a turtle tank....

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I find this interesting! What was the quality of this pet store? Would you say the other employees took as good of care of the animals as you? Was the tank over crowded, or clean like a tank in a proper home would be?

Considering salmonella is in feces and like people said, turtles are the worst for this since they will just swim around in their own feces in dirty water, I wonder if a lot of the worst chance for salmonella comes from the early days just after returning from the petstore if there was an overcrowded cage!

Heck, another reason to make sure pet stores take better care of their animals! If they don't care if their animals get sick, they should care if they could get their customers sick.

Heck my kids bring back so many stomach bugs from school and pass on I wouldn't know if I had it in the first place :P

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Originally Posted by purplemuffin

I find this interesting! What was the quality of this pet store? Would you say the other employees took as good of care of the animals as you? Was the tank over crowded, or clean like a tank in a proper home would be?

Considering salmonella is in feces and like people said, turtles are the worst for this since they will just swim around in their own feces in dirty water, I wonder if a lot of the worst chance for salmonella comes from the early days just after returning from the petstore if there was an overcrowded cage!

Heck, another reason to make sure pet stores take better care of their animals! If they don't care if their animals get sick, they should care if they could get their customers sick.

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I tried to reply to his post this morning but was having some "mobile internet" troubles.. and you're right, turtles are one of the worst and easiest places to catch salmonella.
What people overlook is that we don't get salmonella from the reptile itself so to say!, it comes from the bacteria being able to grow. Salmonella grows very well, and very quickly inside water. A turtle tank is nothing but a Paradise for them. Even if you clean your tank constantly there is still a larger chance to catching it there, then from a snake.

So other than turtles, what else would be the highest risk animal in regards to salmonella? Even non reptiles. I'm curious. Articles sound as if anyone touching a snake is going to die of salmonella, but considering just about every animal can get it... What else would pose the highest risk and how much of a risk would you say it is?

With turtles the risk could be considered lower if we used automatically pumping syphons instead of sucking up tank water probably, hehe! :D

What is the next 'highest risk' animal? Dogs? Birds? Hamsters?

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Originally Posted by purplemuffin

So other than turtles, what else would be the highest risk animal in regards to salmonella? Even non reptiles. I'm curious. Articles sound as if anyone touching a snake is going to die of salmonella, but considering just about every animal can get it... What else would pose the highest risk and how much of a risk would you say it is?

With turtles the risk could be considered lower if we used automatically pumping syphons instead of sucking up tank water probably, hehe! :D

What is the next 'highest risk' animal? Dogs? Birds? Hamsters?

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If snakes carried botulism then those articles would have a point. :P salmonella doesn't really kill older kids, but yes young children and the elderly or people with immune system defects cab die, the average human... eh, Maybe untreated.

Someone with turtles chime in. :P I know LITTLE of turtles...LOL

Next most likely animal? A chicken! :P I seriously don't know that one, but I know the Reptiles take a lot of hits from salmonella, but the truth is it's not likely to happen, I mean it can but Just not likely!

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Originally Posted by zeion97

salmonella doesn't really kill older kids, but yes young children and the elderly or people with immune system defects can die, the average human... eh, Maybe untreated.

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I fixed your spelling error.....lol......

I didn't die, but I wish I had a couple of times, and I am sure at times my wife wished I had....lol....when you burp, it stinks as it is, but when your burps smell like farts, it makes it 1,000,000 times worse.

I have turtles at home, and have been VERY careful with them. I use an autosiphon straight into the sink, and after I drain, I clean with bleach. I DO NOT wanna get salmonella again..........I would not wish it on my worst enemy.....well, let me take that back.......there is this one person......lol.....kidding......it is horrible. I think I have gotten it from undercooked chicken before, and it was not bad......still bad 'digestion' problems, but nothing like turtle water.

The turtles were not overcrowded......there were 3 albino red ear sliders in a 20 gallon long aquarium.....it got cleaned about once a week to every 14 days......depends on how fast they were selling.....

I have eaten all kinds of nasty stuff, most on bets, including raw eggs, and have not gotten sick. If I HAD to say what besides turtles can give you salmonella, I would say eating raw chicken.

DRAGONMOON......I guarantee, if you had salmonella, you would know it.....I have not explained much, because it is pretty nasty, but if you go to a medical website, I am sure you can find some symptoms.......I can say that if you had it, you would know.......

Jason

never had it and neither have any of my family. ive had reptiles since i was 8. so... about 16 years. i now have 5 balls, 2 black milks, a blood python, and a gator

JTrott, your account of the horror is consistent with what I have heard from the RN and doctor in my family. :O Just not a hell anyone wants to go though. Yes, the risk is low, but when washing your hands and using some bleach can make all the difference, who wouldn't? There is no reason to live in fear, but also no reason not to take a few simple precautions. :)

Of course, your story is one of those unavoidable accidents. Comes with the territory of being around reptiles. So sorry you went through that, and so glad you didn't let it soil your love of the hobby. :)

ive never knowingly caught it, when i was 6-7 i used to catch garter snakes in my yard and eat directly after handling them all the time without washing my hands, the only time i'd wash was when they'd musk me (smells horrible), i did the same after handling my turtles (RES) and never got it, i would wait for my hands to dry but never wash them

and when it comes to aquatic turtles, they are a supposed breeding ground for salmonela, but since they always only poo in the water (from what ive seen at least), and theyre stuck in a fish tank, it makes perfect sense, they dont really have being clean as an option, unless the owner is constantly cleaning

As mentioned turtles are the main culprit with this illness. The reason the 4" rule came into effect is years ago fairs, carnivals and pet stores used to sell and give away thousands of wild caught sliders. They would be transported in horrible conditions and were a notorious breeding ground for disease. There were many cases of illness and people associated turtles with the disease not taking into account the horrid conditions these poor hatchlings were kept in. The truth is back then we didnt have the husbandry we have know. The 4" rule was in order to stop kids from putting their new baby turtles in their mouths and getting sick. In most cases animals with salmonella have been kept in filthy conditions, with turtles it just takes one to have it and since they share water, all turtles in tank are infected.

Also, keep in mind that while it's possible all reptiles carry salmonella, not all reptiles carry PATHOGENIC salmonella. There are many different strains, but only a few cause illness. Unfortunately, it's next to impossible to accurately test for.

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Originally Posted by purplemuffin

I've been seeing a lot of news articles and mentions lately of salmanella and the danger of exotic animals. We all know the risk is there. But I want to know how many have actually experienced salmonella poisoning from their reptiles?


I've only caught salmonella once, long before I ever had herps. Now that I do have reptiles, I've never caught it.

I currently have two snakes, three lizards, a bird, and a frog. The bird is 7 years old, and all the rest of the animals are between 1 and 3 years old. My boyfriend has been keeping reptiles and birds his whole life and has never caught it.

Now I won't say we are perfect with our care in preventing salmonella. We know the risk but...well, we get lazy. I've kissed my snake before, I've forgotten to wash my hands before eating after handling my reptiles. Most of the time we are good about it, but honestly we treat cleanliness with them and our hands like we do our dogs and cats..Sometimes we'll forget, unless we've been cleaning cages or something. We've been lucky in avoiding salmonella for sure I suppose. But how lucky?

I'm curious to know--the number of animals, how many years you've kept reptiles, if you ever caught salmonella from them, and how clean you are when it comes to preventing salmonella.

I know this is an extremely active forum, so I know a lot of people will be able to respond. :) I want to see some big numbers and percentages.


To be honest with all the bad press lately, we will be for sure being more careful about avoiding salmonella. We've just been a little bit lazy when it comes to our own health I suppose! Now we'll be better about it for sure. :)

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Never caught anything from my reptiles.

My luck with women while working overseas in southeast asia wasn't so good........:(

yuck yuck yuck yuck

Thanks so much for all the responses! This has been great. I'd love to get as many votes in as possible to get a good look at at least this section of the reptile world. I don't have an account on any turtle forums, but if anyone else does, I'd love to see a poll like this there to see just how much higher the statistics are.

I've not and I've had contact with reptiles my whole life. Catching wild ones and getting my first really pet lizard when I was 9 five years ago.(I've gotten a LOT more reptiles since then, just within the last 2 years) and I've not that I KNOW of.
Last August, starting at the beginning of the month, it was odd because well, for 1, I had diarrhea for the whole month and a wee bit into September(so it was hard to stay hydrated, but I did), but for the first week and 1/2 or more into August I was nauseous and just felt terrible from about 8:30 AM to 2-4PM, so it was really a monring thing, but I'd just lie there and feel terrible.
I had no appetite whatsoever and since then I definitely don't eat as much.

But really, I doubt that was salmonella. I highly doubt that since I was always careful with my dragons and my cresteds(hadn't had a snake yet), but I think it was due to stress and anxiety, one mainly caused by(I know this sounds stupid.XD) Stress about whether dad was going to let me get a ball python or not, and the expo was the 13th of that month. Not to mention that the 2-5 of September there was my first Anime convention I was a bit nervous about.

After the expo on the 13th I got a little better(not really nauseous anymore, still little to no appetite, and diarrhea,) but it was mainly after the anime convention I got completely better.

I eat more now, but I think my stomach has shrunk(possible? XD) because I don't eat THAT MUCH, but I eat enough. I've made sure to drink plenty of water/powerade/gatorade throughout the time I was sick and dehydrated.

But I definitely lost weight. Last year I was probably 136 to MAYBE 140 lbs(possibly less than). I weighed myself this morning before a shower and it read 113.5 lbs. (It was also early in the morning so my weight was lower.) But I'm normally about 116.5 now. I like this weight better( A LOT BETTER) I just don't like how I got to be that weight.


But anyway, that wasn't caused by salmonella I'm about 99.678% Positive. I think it was from anxiety/stress because I was better after the reptile expo and after the anime convention.

:)

The only time I would have expected to get salmonella was from when I accidentally got the clear water liquid whatever from my bearded dragon's feces on the corner of my mouth.
(I rinsed and cleaned my face off REALLY well, though I think some still got in my mouth. I was fine though. XD )



I think that it would take actually getting the feces of the reptile in your mouth, especially if it wasn't a healthy reptile.(Which I make sure all my reptiles are kept healthy and clean!) and I use a lot of hand sanatiser too, as in, after handling, between handling reptiles(like, if I'm switching from holding Kallista to holding one of my lizards), and sometimes after messing with their equipment.

(sorry I wrote a HUGE post)

My husband and I had something similar last year to what you are describing, and doc visits did not produce any answers for us, either.

I personally believe it is A) unrelated to reptiles, and B) something that has not yet been medically identified.
Which is sort of creepy, but there you go. What makes you feel nauseous for an entire month, or longer? Not salmonella. Also, not stress, because there wasn't any more of that than usual.
I think something odd is going around, and it's a purely human illness.

I didnt' go to the doctor at all, which I probably SHOULD HAVE, but I doubt it wouldn't have been productive at all.
And yeah, something that hasn't been medically identified makes sense...
I've seen a lot of people actually (doing some online research) that had the same symptomes I did but nothing turned up at the doctors either.
Freaky, huh?

I kiss my snakes, I don't care. I try to hold them at least every other day and they seem to enjoy being out of their tubs and sometimes fight with me when I try to put them up. As far as hand washing I treat it like if I had pet my dog or cat.

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Originally Posted by evan385

I kiss my snakes, I don't care. I try to hold them at least every other day and they seem to enjoy being out of their tubs and sometimes fight with me when I try to put them up. As far as hand washing I treat it like if I had pet my dog or cat.

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same here!

i wash my hands before my handling any of my snakes but that's for their benefit not mine.

i let my snakes in my bed and handle them 2-3 times a week, my girlfriend likes to kiss them also while they're out lol - never caught salmonella

sometimes my snakes want to come out, they'll be pressing their noses against the door, and if i lower it they slither right out onto my arm (well my carpet slithers up my arm and the ball python likes to crawl onto my hand). Once out, i can tell they ENJOY being out to explore for 10-20 minutes. if i put them back in too early, they slither right back onto me!